Country-western cowgirl party: Emma is 3!
September 10, 2012 · Posted under country-western, parties for girls, party decor, party favors, party features, party games & activities
Mosey on in, y’all! Have I got an epic and amazing cowgirl party to share with you! It’s the work of one of my favorite party planners (and my sweet friend), Sara of Emmy’s Closet. You might remember Sara and her daughter Emma from last year’s fabulous rainbow birthday party. Sara and Emma are back this year with a country-western hoedown filled with rustic details, fun party games, and classic red bandannas.
This is a perfect backdrop for a country-western party! Sara says, “My brother, who’s a carpenter, made the signs. They were just scrap plywood and he used a torch to make those light burn marks. He also cut those zig zags on the edges but I think they would still look great without it! I painted the sayings with black paint. The best part about this theme was that the more old and rustic looking the better so nothing had to be perfect. Normally I would trace in pencil first and be a nervous wreck before that first brush stroke but with this I TRIED to do it quickly and as NOT perfect as possible. I even sanded a little bit over the paint once it was dry to add to the ‘rustic’ look. It was SUPER easy to do!”
Then, the straw bals were free: “I found a local farm supply store to let me borrow the straw bales…SCORE!”
The party included a bounce house, so Sara set a “cowboy boot basket” outside of it so that cowboys and cowgirls could bounce barefoot.
Hats and bandanas (both from Oriental Trading
) make for festive – and inexpensive – decor!
Burlap from the Christmas Tree shop serves as a backdrop behind the buffet tables. The fabric pennant banner (hung in the corner) was homemade.
Bandana napkins are a cute find from Oriental Trading. Sara says, “We ordered food from Famous Daves. It was awesome, it totally went with the theme!”
Cheerful yellow sunflowers are a pretty accent against all of the red. A bit of twine wrapped around the vase is a nice touch!
I am obsessed with these cutlery buckets!! Sara has all the details: “I got the silverware buckets in the dollar bin from Target. I got the vinyl stickers from Living Memories Vinyl Lettering. You can purchase by using the ‘contact us’ form. I think they are awesome and that people would like them!”
Printable buffet cards label all of the food, like these homemade corn muffins.
I love this tree stand! It’s made from two “slices” of a fallen tree. They’re just stacked one on top of the other. No glue necessary!
The birthday cake was a two-tier cake topped with sunflowers. “My extremely talented sister-in-law bakes all of my cakes and cupcakes,” Sara says. “She’s sooo good at it. She used red fondant and then drew the bandana designs by hand.”
Emma’s special birthday outfit is a homemade bandana skirt, a jean vest and a white tank top, plus authentic cowboy boots, of course!
The “sweet saloon” featured miniature sunflower cupcakes, s’more pops, and more! Sara says, “The centers of the cupcakes are mini Oreos. I chose to make little cupcakes as they were mostly for the kids but if you were to make bigger cupcakes regular Oreos would work too.”
This handsome cowboy is Emma’s big brother, Ryan.
A variety of sodas and lemonade were available at “the watering hole.” The Coca-Cola glasses were a steal: 2 for $1 at Dollar Tree.
Paper straws from The Bakers Confections and the printable straw flags are from Chickabug.
The water labels (“Emma’s Well Water”!) are also from Chickabug.
Sara planned lots of games and crafts to keep kids entertained. She says, “The hair braids were fun headbands for the girls to wear. I found them on Costume Express. The kids also did pony beads (left over from last year…shhh!) which they used to made necklaces, etc. I googled ‘cowboy coloring pages’ and printed a bunch out for them to color. And I bought cowboy stickers so they could make cowboy scenes on white paper.”
“My talented sister in law drew the ‘pin the badge on the cowgirl’ game. I got the badges wrote their names in sharpie and then attached thick double sided tape on the back. Then the kids took their badges home as favors, too!”
The kid-friendly horseshoe toss is such a cute idea! “My brother made the horseshoe stand out of some plywood and a dowel and my mom made the horseshoes out of felt and rice. We were going to actually ‘play’ for a prize but since I have mostly younger kids they just had a ball playing on their own.”
Now that’s a party favor. (I’m impressed!) Sara says, “My mom made the ponies from a tutorial on Chickabug. Aren’t they cute??! I found a great deal on those socks so we made them all different colors. I made the bandana bows to put on the girl ponies, then tied printable favor tags from Chickabug to each one.”
The bandana hair bows from Emmy’s Closet look adorable pinned in the stick ponies’ manes!
Sara says, “The babies’ favors were cowboy duckies from Oriental Trading wrapped up in a bandana and tied with your favor tag. The girl babies also got bows. The bigger kids got their pony, cowboy hat, bandana and badge. I wasn’t going to let them play with them until they got to take them home at the end but I am SO glad that they did during the party because they had a BLAST!!”
You can tell so much love went into this party – thank you so much for sharing, Sara! Happy 3rd birthday sweet Emmy!
Styling & planning – Sara of Emmy’s Closet
Bandana hair bows – Emmy’s Closet
Cake & cupcakes – Homemade
Rustic signs – Homemade
Burlap banner (behind food table) – Homemade
Cowgirl costume hair braids and hats (used at craft table) – Costume Express
Cowboy stickers (used at craft table) – Oriental Trading
Badges (for “pin the badge on the cowgirl” game) – Oriental Trading
“Pin the badge on the cowgirl” game – Homemade
Horseshoe game – Homemade
Vinyl fork, knife, and spoon labels – Living Memories Vinyl Lettering (purchase by using the ‘contact us’ form)
Paper straws – The Bakers Confections
Stick ponies – Homemade using this tutorial
Bandanna skirt – Homemade using this tutorial
Bandanna print napkins – Oriental Trading
Red bandanas – Oriental Trading
Cowboy hats – Oriental Trading
Cowboy rubber ducks (not pictured, but given as favors) – Oriental Trading
Hay bales – Borrowed from a local farm supply store
Country western theme water labels and party printables – Chickabug
Shop for personalized Country-Western Theme party paper goods and printables here.
Or, check out more Country-Western Theme party ideas on Pinterest or here on my blog!
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I’m Heather, designer and founder of the Chickabug shop. I blog about all things party, from decor to food to DIY projects and more. I'm glad you're here!
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Sara-- Emmy's Closet says:
HEATHER! Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job featuring Emmy's party. I thought nothing would ever be as fun as Rainbows but this sure was a SUPER fun theme to plan. ALL thanks to you and your amazing printables, designs and the best customer service ever...HANDS DOWN!! You are something else my friend! :)
Heather says:
I'm so happy you like the post!! I'm just trying to do YOU justice, here! Your creativity never ceases to amaze me : ) I only hope I have something Emmy likes when she turns 4!
Mandy says:
Wow- this is one of the cutest parties I have seen! Love it!!
Becky says:
WOW!! So many great ideas!! We are doing a cowgirl theme for my daughter's 4th and I can't wait. Thanks for all the tips!!!
Heather says:
Thank YOU for your kind words! : ) I'll pass them on to Emma's mom!
Blue says:
Thanks alot - your answer solved all my problems after several days stlrgguing
Heather says:
Yay! I'm so glad I could help! : )
Esmeralda Lerma says:
Absolutely amazing!! Loved EVERYTHING. Would you be interested in making me some of your home made rustic signs?
Heather says:
Hi Esmeralda! Those signs were homemade by Sarah of Emmy's Closet. She made them using old plywood and black paint and she did a fantastic job. It looks like she pulled them right off a ranch! : )
Melody Medina says:
Hi: Where are you get those basket? Thank!
Heather says:
Hi Melody! I'm not sure where Sara found the baskets she used for Emma's party. Sometimes you can find great deals on baskets at discount stores like the Dollar Tree! : )
Theresa says:
is there a recipe for the smores pops
Heather says:
Hi Theresa! I'm not sure what recipe Sara used but I found a great recipe for s'more pops here! : )
Mary J says:
May I ask where you got your socks and how much they were?
Heather says:
Hi Mary J! You can view the whole sock monkey tutorial here. The best price I found for socks was here! : )
Mary says:
I was truly tearing up looking at these pics. Hopefully my son's cowboy party will be just as beautiful
Heather says:
Awww, that's so sweet, Mary! I bet his party will be amazing! : )
Maggy says:
I cannot believe how adorable this entire event was! I stumbled across this page while looking for inspiration for Country Western decor for one of our (Mystery Fox's) murder mystery parties- a bit more adult, but, hey, we like a good themed party as well!
Heather says:
Hi Maggy! I'm so glad you liked it and found it useful! : )
Cate says:
Great imagination. Everyone must have loved it!
Some ideas would be great for an adult party too!